Germany brands Arab states’Qatar demands‘very provocative’

A list of 13 demands submitted by four Arab states to Qatar as a condition to lift their boycott on the Gulf country is“very provocative”because some items challenge Doha’s sovereignty,German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Monday(26 June).

Saudi Arabia,the United Arab Emirates,Bahrain and Egypt imposed a boycott on Qatar three weeks ago,accusing it of backing militants–then issued an ultimatum,including demands that it shut down a Turkish military base in Doha.

Saudi Arabia and several of its allies yesterday(5 June)cut relations with Qatar,accusing it of supporting extremism,in the biggest diplomatic crisis to have hit the region in years.

Bahrain,Egypt,the United Arab Emirates,Yemen and the Maldives also severed ties with gas-rich Qatar,which Riyadh accused of supporting groups,including some backed …

Qatar denies the allegations against it and says the demands are aimed at curbing its sovereignty.A government spokesman last week said Doha was reviewing the list of demands,but did not view them as reasonable or actionable.

Gabriel told an event hosted by the European Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin that Germany remained in close touch with all sides to try to reduce tensions resulting from the biggest diplomatic crisis in the region in years.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has voiced support for Qatar in its confrontation with the four states. Qatar says it is being punished for straying from its neighbours’ backing for authoritarian hereditary and military rules.

Mainly Shi’ite Iran and Sunni Saudia Arabia have long been at loggerheads over religion and political influence in the Middle East.

Zarif told the group earlier on Monday that Europe should use its influence to defuse tensions in the Gulf, arguing that those countries that blamed Iran or Qatar for terrorism were trying to avoid taking responsibility for their own failures.